* Sonic 1 font (Looked like some generic Times New Roman-ish font with the circle.)

* Sonic 2 font (The gaslight font)

* Sonic 3 font (The Andes font with the Act numbers that had different colored stripes.

My idea for a font would be to use the font they used for the Act complete screen to spell the character's name... but instead, use it for the act title... and color the 2 colors based on the colors of the zone.

I really like the CD and Chaotix title cards myself. 3D Blast on Genesis was pretty cool, too.

If I were to make a title card for a Sonic game I'd want it to be abstract yet organized, if that makes sense. Of course, only if the game's art style were to reflect that.

Some nice picks... but my only problem with the Sonic CD font is that it only worked for those certain zone titles... they both needed to be two words, and use alliteration for that to work. I'd have to go back and look at what 3D Blast even looks like again... I haven't played it in ages.

I think the idea with the title cards is that they're supposed to help convey this sense that Sonic is a movie. Hence "Act 1" and "Special Stage". So you'd go back to the early days of filmmaking and borrow a font from there.

One thing I think is important is that the text, or color theme... or at least some imagery should in some way represent the zone you are about to play... make each title card feel different in some way... I think it would be a nice touch that was never really done. The Sonic Advance series was the closest to this concept.

And I would liken it more to a play in theatre moreso than a movie... since act and stage are used in theatre, and not so much in movies... at least to the viewer...

Honestly my favorite title card was probably the ones used in Sonic Generations. It combines classic Sonic JP stylization with Sonic 2's title cards to produce some pretty good results. Same goes for the score tally for that game. I love the use of shapes and stars and such, and it's kinda like the Unleashed score tally screen, which I also liked.

They each have their pros and cons. I find Sonic 1's to be kind of boring, I do like Sonic 2's, it's simple, but is very colorful and stylish. Sonic 3's is almost a blend between Sonic 1's minimalistic approach, and Sonic 2's style, but more on the minimalistic side. Sonic CD's one is the true compromise, though it's highly stylized nature requires the entire game to have a similar style, in order for it to not look out-of-place. Also, it never covers the entire screen, unlike the others. I guess it really depends on what is required of the game and the game's art style. Sonic 2 is definitely the most iconic one.

You could always mix it up, like those of Sonic 2 Heroes: background from S2, font and graphics (including new per-Zone act-number icons*) from S3&K. Not sure how I feel about that particular combination of elements, but it's a general idea.

Said game does a similar thing for the end-of-Act tally, although that clashes (more?) due to the mixture of different game-specific bits plus the current custom-made number sprites (the new ones are going to look nice, though! :D).

* First suggested in the Other Knowledge thread, brought up again in the Sonic 3 Complete thread, and mostly made by Neo; I don't know whether he did the ones for S2H, and in fact don't even recall them being discussed in that thread, but it's probably not too outlandish a guess.

* First suggested in the Other Knowledge thread, brought up again in the Sonic 3 Complete thread, and mostly made by Neo; I don't know whether he did the ones for S2H, and in fact don't even recall them being discussed in that thread, but it's probably not too outlandish a guess.

I like the zig-zag style that they used, and have continued to use recently with the advent of Sonic Colours. The composition should have the zig-zags on the right hand side and below, and sometimes on top, and use blue and/or red and/or yellow.

* Sonic 1 font (Looked like some generic Times New Roman-ish font with the circle.)

It's Century, or a very close variant, unless I'm dreadfully mistaken.

This probably isn't the kind of answer you're looking for, but I don't think there is an ideal one. Aside from the obvious outlying case of Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, no two Sonic games have used the same title card style. Each one is suited to its own particular game and conjures up memories of it specifically. I don't think choosing one of the lot to ape, or making a syncretist mashup of them all are good ways to go, even when your project is a retelling of the genesis era (as I believe is your goal).

As someone who has been undertaking a similar project for nigh on a decade now, I don't think I've found the right answer either. My best advice would be to just come up with something completely new, but memorable and vaguely Sonicky. With that at least you're being creative and it's very hard to go wrong.